- China to Apply New Testing Standards on Face Masks (GB2626-2019)

Daddybaby, a Fujian-based diaper manufacturer, also a top 5 player of the 
industry in China, like many other Chinese enterprises, has responded to the 
call by the Chinese government to adjust some of its production lines for 
protective materials in a very short period of time. The quality of the 
products satisfies the production standard for China's civilian-use protective 
face masks. Over the past few months, Daddybaby has provided over 30 million 
civilian-use face masks to the people in China and has donated over 2 million 
civilian-use face masks to other people in need in many countries around the 
world. In the future, Daddybaby will actively provide high-quality face masks 
that satisfy the quality standards of different countries and regions. 

It is reported that China will apply a new testing national standard on face 
masks (GB2626-2019), starting from July 1st, 2020. This new standard, once 
implemented, will be helpful for countries to unify testing standards on 
protective materials further. As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread 
globally, the demands for protective materials are increasing in many countries 
around the world. China has earned experiences in controlling the outbreak 
rather successfully and has become a country with the highest capacity in 
producing protective materials in the world. Thanks to many enterprises in 
China that have adjusted their production lines to manufacture protective gear, 
including face masks and protective gowns since the beginning of the outbreak, 
China's protective materials exports have provided strong support for other 
countries in this fight against the virus. 

During this global fight against the pandemic, the import/export of protective 
materials faces great barriers for certification as different countries/regions 
apply different inspection and testing standards. Take face masks as an 
example: in China, face masks that are most available for purchase at the 
moment are mainly certified by 5 standard systems, including China, the United 
States, the European Union, South Korea, and Japan. 

There are online postings on helping the public to better understand the 
different certification standards, which is "FFP3>FFP2~N95~KN95~KF94>KN90" 
(Source: www.qq.com). FFP represents the E.U. standard. N is the U.S. standard. 
KN is the Chinese Standard. KF is the South Korea standard. Among these 
different standards, the higher the number goes, the level of protection 
increases. Therefore, customers can refer to this to choose the right face 
masks and get different levels of protection. While how to create a system that 
different standards can be mutually-recognized via communication channels and 
how to efficiently promote the global supply of protective materials are among 
the questions that need to be addressed urgently. 

In the meantime, large quantities of face masks are now being detained at 
customs authorities of many countries due to the misunderstanding of inspection 
and testing standards. Some Chinese face masks export are also affected by 
this. At the moment, Daddybaby, with some of its exported goods affected as 
well, is actively in close and friendly communication with its overseas buyers 
and customs authorities to resolve such misunderstanding, including checking 
the import/export supply chain channels and relevant customs documents. 

Hopefully, countries can establish a mutually-recognizing mechanism on the 
standards for protective materials and enhance medical cooperation to win this 
war against this pandemic as early as possible.

SOURCE: Daddybaby